Pulitzer Prize General Non Fiction Winner

The Problem of Slavery in Western Culture

by David Brion Davis

Summary

A profound intellectual history that examines how the institution of slavery was viewed and justified by Western thinkers from antiquity to the 18th century. It explores the slow and difficult rise of abolitionist thought.

Historical Context & Significance

Davis was a founding father of modern slavery studies; his work shifted the focus from the "economics" of slavery to the moral and religious tensions that eventually led to its downfall.